what’s wild to me is my aunt is the person who introduced me to margret atwood specifically with the handmaid’s tale. my aunt wasn’t exactly a feminist but close enough.
her first break with the democrats was when bill clinton was having his affair. now, she’s a full on republican and donald trump supporter. she believes the election was stolen, that coronavirus is just the flu, that some doctor in texas ( don’t ask ) has the cure - as do all of the countries in asia - and she refuses to even consider taking the vaccine.
i don’t know what happened.
that whole part of my family are extremely isolated, no close friends except other evangelicals, they don’t listen to the news ( can’t trust any of it you see ), and work a lot.
they’ve basically meandered to the dark side, and have neither the time nor the inclination to walk their way back. unless the environment around them changes, they’re not going to change. they’re never even going to start examining the contradictions in their own lives.
on the plus side, as individuals they are powerless. nothing they do as individuals is going to change america. and there is more to them as human beings than just the sum of their increasingly ridiculous positions.
on the other hand, america is filled with people just like them. and from time to time they vote, and/or ignore covid protocols, and/or storm the capitol seeking to overthrow the government.
The F.B.I. also obtained a “geofence” warrant for all the Android devices that Google recorded within the building during the assault, the officials said. A geofence warrant legally gives law enforcement a list of mobile devices that are able to be identified in a particular geographic area. Jill Sanborn, the head of counterterrorism at the F.B.I., testified before a Senate panel on Wednesday that all the data the F.B.I. had gathered in its investigation into the riot was obtained legally through subpoenas and search warrants.
While this is historically true, there are increasing numbers of very conservative churches who actively discourage or even forbid interactions with outsiders, sinners and heathens “to keep the body of the church pure.” Which, coincidentally of course, means that the pastors of said churches have inordinate influence over their flocks. Power is hell of a drug, IOW.
it dove tails nicely with the whole “fake news” thing.
basically, please cut all ties with the outside world but this time with a sprinkling of internet “research” and engagement algorithms thrown in. so maybe more of a “please cut all ties with reality” sort of thing than in times past
That’s cult (and abusive partner) behavior 101: isolate the target from any external social connections that might convince them to leave. Bonus points if you can make those external social connections look like they’re part of the problem the cult is promising a solution to.
Chansley has repeatedly argued that he acted peacefully on Jan. 6 when he helped lead a pro-Trump mob into Congress in an insurrection that left one police officer and four others dead.
But the judge pointed to videos, photos, social media posts and police interviews that he said clearly contradict those claims. “Defendant’s perception of his actions on January 6th as peaceful, benign and well-intentioned shows a detachment from reality,” Lamberth wrote.
Video shows Chansley leading the breach of the U.S. Capitol while holding a six-foot pole topped with a spear tip, authorities said. Prosecutors added that Chansley forced his way into the Senate chamber, where he sat in Pence’s chair and left a note declaring “ITS ONLY A MATTER OF TIME JUSTICE IS COMING!”
It could mean more serious criminal charges for some rioters. On the other hand, mounting evidence of advance planning could also fuel Trump’s and his supporters’ claims that the Republican former president did not incite the riot and therefore should not be liable for it.
And on the gripping hand, Roger Stone would have known about the Oath Keeper plans, and would know that they needed a swarm of useful idiot insurrectionists for cover.
Yeah, this is fodder for a whole crowd of abusive bad actors.
The article you posted nails it, and it’s not good news:
Steve Pedery, conservation director at Oregon Wild, expects that Haaland will be tested early. “It’s unfortunate, but I guarantee we’ll see the Bundys pull something again,” he said.
In fact, Bundy has already threatened violence. In an interview in January, days before President Joe Biden’s inauguration, Bundy warned that he and his allies would “walk towards guns” if the new administration attempted to collect long-overdue grazing fees and round up his cattle. That’s what the Obama administration tried unsuccessfully to do in 2014. Bundy has now been grazing his cattle illegally on public lands for over two decades.
[emphasis mine]
He’s been grazing his cattle for $0 for decades but that is just not enough apparently.
Ye gods. I really pity law enforcement officers of any stripe who are tasked with and are going to arrest these people. I can perfectly imagine a standoff between county and state LEOs (Oregon, Nevada, “western states” in the U.S.) and federal LEOs.
No idea how it’s going to turn out, but “all persons should be equal under the law” is a far cry from “all persons are equal under the law.”
No need to ever make eye contact with these assholes. Seize their cattle while they are on public land and shoot the rest from helicopters while flying over. It’s not the poor cattle’s fault but the feds can’t just let this go on. Take away the asshole rancher’s livelihood and let’s see if they come to the table then.
Welp, guess we’re going to see just how hard Cult45’s going to cling.
I sense that those who were paying for access, for influence, will take a more practical stance and simply “donate” to whomever is in a position to get them what they want. Those might be the first to let go.
